Muskegon Community College opens new office in Grand Haven

GRAND HAVEN, MI – Muskegon Community College will open a more permanent
location in Grand Haven this fall.

The college’s Ottawa County classes will be held on the bottom floor of the
Grand Haven Community Center. The mailing address will be 422 Fulton, because
the entrance to the bottom floor is in the back of the building.

MCC has offered classes at Grand Haven High School for 20 years, spokeswoman
Tina Dee said, with some evening classes in Spring Lake and at the Grand Haven
Community Center. Having a designated location will allow MCC to offer day
classes and let Ottawa County students meet with advisers there instead of
having to drive to Muskegon, she said.

The North Ottawa County Council on Aging, which rented part of the bottom
floor, is moving out, Dee said, so extra space became available. Loutit District
Library also agreed to let MCC use its classrooms and computers when space is
available, she said.

“We may end up with some of our day classes there,” she said. “Before, we
just had a place where we could offer night classes.”

MCC Vice President for Academic Affairs Teresa Sturrus said enrollment in
Ottawa County has increased from 28 students during one semester in 2009 to 175
in winter 2011. She said prospective students wanted more flexibility in
scheduling their classes.

“We know that Ottawa County has a base for us,” Sturrus said. “What we were
hearing from the community is that they wanted to have day classes.”

The Ottawa County Intermediate School District is
looking to set up an early college program in the Tri-Cities area, where
students would combine their high school and college educations, so they would
have a high school diploma and associate degree by grade “13.” MCC participates
in a similar
arrangement with the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, and is
preparing a proposal to participate in an Ottawa County program, Sturrus
said.

“It’s important for us to have a presence there so we’ll be their college of
choice,” she said.

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Grand Valley, MSU Researchers To Study Muskegon Area Water

CBS Detroit

July 10, 2012 6:45 PM

The Grand Valley State University Annis Water Research Institute in Muskegon

MUSKEGON — Two researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon will collaborate with scientists at Michigan State University on a pair of separate projects after receiving a grant.

Bopi Biddanda, associate professor, and Ryan Thum, assistant professor, received a nearly $56,000 Water Initiative Research Grant Award to use in collaboration with their counterparts from MSU.

Biddanda will work with MSU researchers and a Grand Valley undergraduate student to study the inner workings of the Muskegon Lake ecosystem. They will also use data from Grand Valley’s Muskegon Lake Observation buoy to determine in near-real time what effect storms have on the lake.

They also plan to study how the lake releases gases, including the highly potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, during the warm summer months.

“It’s very exciting to get to collaborate with our colleagues from Michigan State,” Biddanda said. “We’re looking forward to learning more about the lake and exploring joint educational programs between Grand Valley and MSU.”

Thum’s research will focus on Eurasian watermilfoil, an introduced invasive aquatic plant that can exhibit resistance to herbicides that are currently used to get rid of the plant. Thum and his MSU colleagues will test whether unique mutations in a gene they have identified causes the plant to be resistant.

“We’ll be able to learn more about this problem with the combined resources of the two universities,” Thum said. “I’m excited to see this partnership take off.”

Researchers from both universities will also use the grant period to explore joint educational programs, which could lead to new academic offerings for students.

The Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute is a multidisciplinary research organization within Grand Valley’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. By integrating research, education, and outreach, AWRI strives to enhance and preserve freshwater resources. AWRI consists of three programmatic areas and offers exciting research and education opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students.

Muskegon Community College sets up 'reverse transfer' agreement with Grand Valley State University

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – The road from community college to university is now a two-way street.

Grand Valley State
UniversityMuskegon Community College President Dale
Nesbary, left, and Grand Valley State University President Tom Haas shake hands
after signing a 'reverse transfer' agreement that will let GVSU students apply
credits earned their toward an associate's degree at MCC.

Grand Valley State University President Thomas Haas and Muskegon Community
College President Dale Nesbary signed an agreement Monday afternoon that would
allow students to transfer credits earned at GVSU back to MCC to count toward an
associate's degree.

Students who have completed 30 or more credits at MCC can transfer back up to
32 GVSU credits to complete an associate degree, Nesbary said. Before, they
would have had to physically come back to Muskegon to complete their associate's
degree requirements even if they had taken equivalent classes at GVSU, he
said.

“Completing a degree would have been much more difficult in the past,” he
said.

MCC has 81 programs and GVSU has more than 200 programs, Nesbary said, so
students should be able to complete any of the associate's degree programs at
MCC with GVSU courses.

GVSU doesn’t offer associate's degrees, Haas said, so the partnership gives
students a way to earn a degree if finances or other circumstances won’t let
them complete their bachelor’s. It’s also an option for students who want both
degrees, he said.

“This reduces redundancy for students,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s
about students being successful.”

Haas said “reverse transfers” are becoming more popular and GVSU has a
similar partnership with Grand Rapids Community College. It will likely set up
three or four other partnerships this year, he said.

Haas said giving students a “seamless pathway” to an associate's degree
increases the odds they’ll further their education, which will attract
businesses looking for talented workers.

“They can see the talent is here, and maybe we can keep it here,” he
said.

MUSKEGON, MI -- The Greater Muskegon Jaycees
have been named the most outstanding of the more than 700 Jaycees chapters in
the United States.

The Muskegon chapter was presented the 2011 Harold A. Marks Memorial Award,
given to the nation's top chapter, at this week's 2011 United State Junior
Chamber (Jaycees) year-end awards ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa.

The United States Jaycees also announced the Greater Muskegon Jaycees raised
the second most money -- more than $10,000 -- to support the American Cancer
Society's Relay for Life program. The chapter also had the best International
Area and Individual and Individual Development Area programming in the nation,
the U.S. Jaycees announced.

Receiving individual honors were two Muskegon Jaycees 2011 vice presidents,
Dani LaFleur and Kari Kidrowski, both named among the top 25 local chapter vice
presidents.

"I am so proud to call myself a Greater Muskegon Jaycee," chapter President
Tara Mack said. "We set out to make an impact in our community and make a
difference and we did just that."

"I am very proud of what President Tara Mack and her team accomplished in
2011," said David Worthams of Kalamazoo, Michigan Jaycees President.

The Jaycees is an organization for young
professionals ages 21 through 40. It emphasizes personal and professional
training, community service and leadership skills. For more information about
the Greater Muskegon Jaycees, visit their website at www.muskegonjaycees.org or
call (231) 412-0705.

Lorin Industries in Muskegon named one of the top 50 companies in Michigan to watch

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. and its partners honored the 50
companies as part of its Michigan Celebrates Small Business events last month.
Companies were honored for their innovation, leadership and sustaining a
competitive advantage.

The aluminum coil
anodizer was founded in 1943 by the late Herb Kersman and then the company
was operated for many years by his son Buzz Kersman. In the past six years, Park
Kersman has purchased the company started by his grandfather and been its
president the past year and a half.

“I am proud to be part of such an amazing team of people that have made this
possible for our organization,” the youngest Kersman said of the state honor.
“Throughout Lorin, we continually focus on opportunities to improve how we do
business.”

Like many area manufacturers which have survived the Great Recession, Lorin
Industries went back to the basics that Kersman’s grandfather and father had
focused on in previous generations of ownership, the company president said. The
company mission in the face of the poor economy was to provide customers
solutions that would add value to their businesses, Kersman said.

The company’s anodized aluminum produced in coil form is used in
architectural and construction, appliance and automotive industries. It might be
an interior covering or siding for a commercial building or a reflective panel
in a light fixture.

During the Great Recession the company was able to hold its market share and
as the economy improved pick up business left by those in the industry who did
not survive, Kersman said. The company is now growing and expanding with
employment moving toward 100, he said.

One of the major and more visible projects that used Lorin Industries’
product was the recladding of the Superdome in New Orleans. The huge effort by
Ryerson Metals of Chicago using a specially-colored Lorin product was completed
and installed last year, Kersman said.

“We circled that entire building and won the contract because of our very
consistent color production,” Kersman said.

Lorin created “New Orleans Saints” gold for Superdome. The rolls of gold
anodized aluminum numbered 400,000 pounds of material produced at its Muskegon
manufacturing facility at 1960 Roberts, Kersman said.

The company continues to seek new products, colors and finishes to serve new
markets, the company president said. Such investment should keep the company on
its current growth path, he said.

Along with the other 50 Michigan Companies to Watch, Lorin Industries is long
past the start-up stage but still hasn’t reached full maturity as a company. The
so-called “second stage” companies have up to $50 million in sales and less than
100 employees.

“It is great to have a third-generation ownership at Lorin as many companies
don’t get to our stage,” Kersman said. “We are very excited about the
future.”